Wednesday, 2 January 2013

Extensive
work has been done in the past 50 years on the archaeology of the prominent
citadel at Fatehpur Sikri, particularly by Prof. R Nath, Department of History
and Indian Culture, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and Dr. D.V.Sharma, who as
Superintending archaeologist spent years to investigate the unexplored site and
excavated hidden iconic treasures of the Jainas from Anup Talao as well as
re-discovered Ibadat-Khanah located just on the eastern fringe of the Unitary
Pillar Hall. However, my intention is neither to re-tell the history nor delve
into the archaeology of the citadel but only to make a few observations and
convey feelings about the place.

At 9
AM on a foggy morning when I reached Fatehpur Sikri by boarding the usual bus
service available at Idgah bus station, the huge Buland Darwaza was barely
visible from the main bazar street, 400 feet below, of the town. A few
teashops, eateries, groceries and vegetable shops have opened. Some of them
were in the process of lighting a fire to create some warmth on this winter
morning of the last week of December 2012. As availability of firewood seemed
scarce at this place, people had no options but to use discarded jute bags,
rags, paperboards and litter to lit fire from which emanated extremely foul
smell making the morning milieu intolerable. However, I thought otherwise and
found that a teashop owner was sitting idle as a Poori walah was briskly
selling his merchandize. The smell of the fresh street food filled my nostrils
and I was driven towards him to ask for a few pieces. I had not taken even tea
after starting from my Guest House room in JALMA hospital. Next, I obliged the
teashop vendor who was an Aggrawal Bania from the town. A made a few enquiries
about the town from him to which he enthusiastically responded and told that in
the old sector of the town I could find traditional mansions. Later I
discovered that there were few but none of them impressive enough to invite
documentation. I just clicked a few shots for record and climbed the hillside
to reach the Buland Darwaza, which was as usually occupied by vendors and
urchins. The fog has become dense and cold was severe but both these natural
factors had not deterred hundreds of visitors to reach the Citadel who might
have come from faraway places utilizing several holidays in a stretch.
Suddenly, I thought of looking at the Baoli located adjacent to the huge Buland
Darwaza. The octagonal shaped Baoli, the stepped well, is in total neglect, as
its water had turned murky. The architects had created with ingenuity this
device in which the runoff rainwater from the roofs and courtyard of the Dargah
used to collect. The Dargah of Khwaja Moin-uddin-Chisti, the spiritual mentor
of Emperor Akbar, looked as inviting and graceful as ever. The edifice made
from white marble stone and embellished with floral motifs made from
semi-precious stones looked engulfed by the whitish fog. However, the colorful
costumes of the visiting people could break monotonous whitewall. Wearing of
shoes is prohibited inside the Dargah and everyone is asked to put them off at
the Darwaza. I preferred wearing socks to save from the hazards of the freezing
floor.

The
weather was in no mood of relenting but the ambient light increased to afford
better visibility. I had spent two hours inside the sprawling premises of the
Dargah during which time I had a close look at the artwork in the Jami Mosque
and the Mosoleum of Saint Salim Chishti while admiring the workmanship of the
crafts persons engaged by Akbar. The next was the main citadel incorporating
the public and private buildings about which a lot of literature exists in
books of history; most of which is now accessible through internet. The
monuments were as robust as they had been in 1999 when I had seen them first
time. However, the romance of the palaces and a personal account of the
physical condition of the built heritage can provide addition delight if one
goes through the 228 pages thick Handbook of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Sikandara
and Neighborhood monuments by E.B.Havell that can take you 108 years back in
history.

It
took more than two hours before I could satisfy myself and exhaust my spirit of
clicking the camera. As I closely watched the art work, architecture and
utilization and management of space in terms of creating admirable
architectural edifices, my appreciation for the acumen of the architects,
designers and shilawats (stone
cutters, fixers, dressers and carvers) who had worked on site to create
magnificence of a unique kind, increased many fold. The time quickly slipped
with noticeable effects as it was 3
O’clock in the afternoon and the Sun had not shown it vigor and warmth, so far.
Feeling a little bit exhausted, for the last six hours I was on my legs, I
thought of replenishing my strength by visiting the bazaar again to gulp a cup
of hot tea. This time the Aggarwal bandhu really prepared good tea. I decided
to take a second look at the narrow lane of the bazaar. Activity of life in the
tunnel like bazaar street has reached its usual level despite persisting cold
weather. Like every other small and neglected town of India, I wondered, how
Fatehpur Sikri’s destiny could have been dissimilar. The most pinching thought
is that despite architectural grandeur on the long hillock adjacent to the
habitation the village of Sikri that was settled centuries earlier than the
citadel of Akbar, got severely neglected in due course of time. The resident
frequently complain of non-supply of electricity for hours together. Its
neglect has now become historical, as all successive governments have paid no
heed because the grand citadel is the responsibility of the ASI. However, a few
private hotels in addition to moderate presence of UP Tourism has made the stay
possible and comfortable for tourists, but the town is very filthy whose alleys
and the only bazaar barely affords passage even to a person on foot. No vehicle
bigger than the auto-rickshaw can negotiate the crowd and encroachments in the
streets of Fatehpur Sikri. The mini-buses, however, manage to reach the bus
station located adjacent to the Gate Structure in the bazaar, which a wealthy
Mahajan got erected more than five decades ago. The entire village looked
filthy.

Then,
I thought of loitering in the rear of the main citadel. It took 20 minutes to
walk up to the rear gate from a passage provided along the eastern wall of the
high enclosure wall of the Dargah. Several utility buildings such as octagonal
reservoir, called Baoli, its water collection system, private residences of the
ministers of Akbar, a mosque, quarters for soldiers and guards, sheds for
horses, camels, and elephants, Hiran Minar and a Caravan Serai could be seen on
the slope of the hill. It appeared that the chief architect who had discussed
the layout plans, in person with the Emperor, had set in mind not to disturb
the natural elevation of the terrain and instead fully utilized its
geographical properties in achieving some noteworthy engineering feats in addition
to harnessing the watershed potential of the small hillock and terraced
positioning of the buildings. During rainfall the water flowed gently into a
16X6X4 feet size tank, and traveling for about 5 meters, it collected into two
dome-covered structures in the middle of which was another cistern –a circular shaped
reservoir, whose bottom was two meters above the bottom of the other two
primary water-collection structures. The purpose of raising the bottom of the
central cistern was to take only filtered water in after the mud had settled. Thereafter,
the central tank discharged the water through two parallel running channels
into a set of bigger masonry wells build about 20 meters away towards the south
from the first point under the massive retaining walls of the main citadel. When
the level of the water sufficiently arose, it started flowing through a channel
towards the magnificent Baoli, which is actually a Kund. This technique could
have been replicated on the classical patterns of Kunds seen even nowadays in
Shekhawati region. The cisterns and the destination well was designed to hold sufficient
water during rainy season. However, if it rained in torrents, the surplus water
could flow into the nearby fields and used for irrigating the fields. It now
becomes apparent that the water of this octagonal Kund could have been used by
the passing caravans that stayed for while in the Serai in addition to serving the
households of a large number of officers and service personnel of the court of
Akbar and those living in the vicinity the citadel.

Fatehpur Sikri sits on rocky ridge, 3 kilometers (1.9
miles) in length and 1 km (0.62 miles) wide, and The Palace city is surrounded
by a 6 km (3.7 miles) protective wall on three sides with the fourth being a
lake at the time. Its architect Tuhir Das designed the city by using Indian
principles of Vastu. The buildings of Fatehpur Sikri show a synthesis of
various regional schools of architectural craftsmanship such as in Gujarat and
Bengal. Engaging indigenous artisans from various regions for the construction
of the buildings was a necessity for Akbar. Influences from Hindu and Jain
architecture are seen hand in hand here with embodiments of a few Islamic
elements. The building material used in all the buildings at Fatehpur Sikri,
palace-city complex, is the locally quarried red sandstone, known as 'Sikri
sandstone'. The designer had provided access to the city through nine gates
along the five-mile long fort wall, namely, Delhi Gate, the Lal Gate, the Agra
Gate, Birbal's Gate, Chandanpal Gate, The Gwalior Gate, the Tehra Gate, the
Chor Gate and the Ajmere Gate.

The caravan Serai is as usual but the role of the Hiran
Minar, an unique monument, was for keeping a watch or making announcements to
occasional large gatherings. Currently, the ASI has undertaken conservation
work at the Serai and its outer gate structures.

About Me

I am a cultural historian and looking for dedicated friends who work in documenting the cultural heritage of India both tangible and intangible. I am life member of INTACH, Science writer, author, contributor, frequent traveller, photographer, lecturer, friendly, sharp minded, caring and physically robust. Likes simple, traditional Indian food and company of young, energetic and absultely nationalistic people.